Compulsive Eating in a Rat Model of Binge Eating Disorder Under Conditioned Fear and Exploration of Neural Mechanisms With c-fos mRNA Expression

Compulsive eating is the most obstinate feature of binge eating disorder. In this study, we observed the compulsive eating in our stress-induced binge-like eating rat model using a conflicting test, where sucrose and an aversively conditioned stimulus were presented at the same time. In this conflicting situation, the binge-like eating prone rats (BEPs), compared to the binge-like eating resistant rats (BERs), showed persistent high sucrose intake and inhibited fear response, respectively, indicating a deficit in palatability devaluation and stronger anxiolytic response to sucrose in the BEPs. We further analyzed the neuronal activation with c-fos mRNA in situ hybridization. Surprisingly, the sucrose access under conditioned fear did not inhibit the activity of amygdala; instead, it activated the central amygdala. In the BEPs, sucrose reduced the response of the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVN), while enhancing activities in the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) to the CS. The resistance to devaluating the palatable food in the BEPs could be a result of persistent Acb response to sucrose intake and attenuated recruitment of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). We interpret this finding as that the reward system of the BEPs overcame the homeostasis system and the stress-responding system.

Therapist Materials for Regular Eating

Chapter 5 is a supplementary session designed for clients who are not receiving frequent, adjunctive treatment focused directly on eating regularly (such as meetings with a dietitian/nutrition counselor, residential treatment, or daily food coaching). Some clients may not require extensive attention to regular eating because they eat regularly already and have other issues. It is important to log eating and to monitor and discuss connections between eating, symptoms, and emotions. In addition to reviewing food logs, this chapter instructs clients on regular eating and helps clients to identify obstacles to regular eating and to develop specific plans to address those obstacles. Clients also learn to identify strategies to delay automatic compulsive eating between regular eating episodes.

Regular Eating

The session described in this chapter is a supplementary session directed toward clients who are not receiving frequent, adjunctive treatment focused directly on eating regularly (such as meetings with a dietitian/nutrition counselor, residential treatment, or daily food coaching). During this session, clients learn about regular eating, including the importance of regular eating and specifically what it would look like for the individual client. The basic framework for regular eating is three meals and two or three snacks a day at spaced intervals. Together with the therapist, the client will brainstorm ideas for overcoming obstacles to regular eating and look at strategies to tackle compulsive eating.

Conversion Reaction after a Traumatic Brain Injury

KLS, also called recurrent hypersomnia, is a sleep disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of hypersomnia associated with cognitive and behavioral disturbances such as confusion, derealisation, apathy, compulsive eating, and hypersexuality. In this article, we aim to present a case with a history of traumatic brain injury who had been suffering from memory disturbance and came in an unresponsive state. He met several therapists and hospitalized several times. Through reviewing his history, we point out some diagnosis and discuss the probable effect of stressful life events on such patients with impaired memory system. The patient has received these medications during hospitalization in neurology ward pantoprazole 40mg po Qd, amantadine 100mg po BID, modafinil 100mg po TID in addition to diazepam and heparin in bedside. In this case, combination therapy and using hypnosis with family support and cooperation in several medical visits seems to be effective for early treatment.

The Early Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Stress and Addictive Behaviors in an Alcohol-Consuming Student Population in France

Background: This study evaluated factors linked with perceived stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown and addictive behaviors prior to and during lockdown in a sample of students who indicated engaging in alcohol consumption behaviors before lockdown.Methods: Cross-sectional study. French students from four universities participated in this study, and 2,760 students reported alcohol use. During the first week of lockdown, students reported their perceived levels of stress regarding COVID-19. Substance use and addictive behaviors were reported before and during lockdown, and media exposure, demographical, living conditions, and environmental stressors were reported during lockdown.Results: Women reported greater levels of stress (95% CI: 1.18 to 1.93, p < 0.001). Highly-stressed students also report less social support (95% CI: −1.04 to −0.39, p < 0.001) and were more likely to worry about the lockdown (95% CI: 0.27 to −0.65, p < 0.001). Alcohol-related problemswere more prevalent among the most stressed students (95% CI: 0.02 to 0.09, p = 0.004) as well as eating problems (95% CI: 0.04 to 0.36, p = 0.016) and problematic internet use (95% CI, 0.06 to 0.14, p < 0.001). Students reporting the highest levels of stress also indicated more compulsive eating during the previous seven days (95% CI, 0.21 to 1.19, p = 0.005).Conclusions: The level of stress was strongly related to four categories of variables: (i) intrinsic characteristics, (ii) addictive behaviors before lockdown, (iii) lockdown-specific conditions, and (iv) addictive behaviors during the lockdown. Several variables linked to COVID-19 were not directly linked with perceived stress, while perceived stress was found to correlate with daily life organization-related uncertainty and anticipated consequences of lockdown. Importantly, social support seems to be a protective factor on high level of stress.

Inter-Individual Differences in Food Addiction and Other Forms of Addictive-Like Eating Behavior

The “addictive-like eating behavior” phenotype encompasses different terms or concepts, including “food addiction” (FA), “eating addiction” or “compulsive eating behavior” [...]

Nonconvex consumer preferences, compulsive eating, and food addiction

PurposeEpisodes of compulsive eating may lead to addiction. Changing relative prices does not always work for many food addicts turned overweight or obese individuals. This paper points to when such situations may arise and how they can be remedied.Design/methodology/approachWe modify the standard neoclassical economics model assumption of indifference curves being convex to the origin. It becomes violated in situations when compulsive eaters become food addicts. As a result of that, the assumption of the concave (quasi-concave) utility function is violated too. We also introduce the possibility that compulsive eaters may have stable but nonconstant preferences.FindingsMost important finding of our model is that a smooth dynamic path to addiction, caused by habit, disappears. Hence, the ability for smooth adjustment to relative price changes due to policies targeting obesity may not be applicable for a compulsive addict. We postulate the existence of thresholds past in which irreversible harm to addicted overeaters may occur. Reaching such states implies that no economic tools at our disposal could reverse the harm, which, in turn, deem that many policies directed at altering relative prices are ineffective in correcting overeating addiction and its consequences.Social implicationsEven if we believe in consumer sovereignty, it is possible to shape consumer behavior via policy actions, including the behavior of extremum seekers turned addicts. The public policy of obesity should consider, in this case, its social cost.Originality/valueNo prior research has considered food addiction in light of compulsive eating caused by extremum-seeking behavior. Addiction correcting food policies always relied on either rational or myopic addiction models.